HOUSTON AFTER HURRICANE HARVEY

When Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Gulf Coast, it shattered the rainfall record for a single storm. Beyond $1.5 billion in damages, the city faced an issue that money couldn’t fix – potential visitors’ belief that the city was, and would be for some time, underwater. In partnership with Visit Houston, TURNER set about reversing significant negative national media coverage to rebuild Houston’s post-Harvey reputation and bring tourism dollars back.

What We Did

Our strategy involved extensive, tailored media outreach and proactive pitching across highly-targeted outlets. The emphasis was on telling neighborhood-level stories to dispel myths about Houston not being fully recovered.

Many of our efforts highlighted the #HoustonStrong spirit through human interest narratives. Specific strategies included:

• Identifying culinary assets (such as chefs that helped with flood recovery, renovated restaurants) to put a spotlight on offerings that distinguish the destination from the competition;
• Compiling information on a surge of new openings in the city that appeal to tourists, leveraging the “one year after Hurricane Harvey” story as a timely hook, ensuring that Houston appears on “Where to Go” lists for 2019;
• Showcasing the city as a desirable – and affordable – place to live and operate in, supporting overall economic growth.

Additionally, TURNER hosted 18 national media in Houston on individual and thematic press trips from August to December 2018. One trip focused on the city’s diverse and unique culinary offerings. The other showcased the city’s unexpectedly booming arts and culture scene one year after Harvey. The itineraries didn’t shy away from some of the hardest hit areas of the city, highlighting Houston’s full recovery. Our guests attended a technical rehearsal of The Nutcracker at The Wortham Theater Center, one of the buildings most impacted by Hurricane Harvey. They also visited the Lancaster Hotel, which reopened in October 2018 after flood-impacted renovations.

Results

The #HoustonRising spirit was strong. The city was named as a top place to go in 2019 in more than a dozen national outlets (many citing the city as fully recovered), including: The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Lonely Planet, AFAR, Bloomberg, National Geographic, Fathom, Travelzoo, Food & Wine, Out Magazine, Trip Savvy, Skyscanner and GOBankingRates. Additionally, we secured several feature stories in major publications that specifically covered Houston a year after Hurricane Harvey, such as The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Overall national media relations efforts garnered more than $761,636.00 in advertising value and more than 180,133,629 total circulation/impressions, through 33 articles.